Rebuilding of the Bifrost
by JokerLoves
Summary: It should have been a straight forward task, but come now. Where's the fun in that? Prequel to TTWC, but can be read alone just fine. nonslash.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is the prequel to my other story These Things Will Change. It can be read on its own or in junction with that story. Whichever. Pairings are PepperOny, Thor/Jane, maybe a mention of ClinTasha but not main characters. As always, if you see any mistakes let me know. Reviews are loved and highly appreciated. Enjoy!**

**Rebuilding of the Bifrost**

The mortal's head was spinning, Thor knew. He couldn't keep the smile off his face as he watched his friend turn in circles next to him trying to take in all of Asgard at once. Finally, his gaze landed on the castle and he stopped.

"Alright, I'll give," Tony announced, "I want one."

Thor's laugh was thunderous.

"Many desire the great halls of Asgard, but few see so much as a glimpse of it. You, my friend, have the honor of staying as a most honored guest."

Said friend opened his mouth to give some quick response, Thor was sure, but he never got that far before his attention was once again stolen.

"What is that?" He asked his wide brown eyes locked on the great iron works building and its moving towers.

"That is the Iron Works. It is there that our armor is made and enchanted." Thor explained

"You don't say."

"Indeed. My own armor was created there as well as Loki's." Thor elaborated.

He grinned to himself. He could almost see Tony think.

"We are not going there now Tony, I am sorry. I will be sure to have the Master Mason give you a full tour later." Thor chuckled as he redirected Tony with a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, but that is definitely on the ASAP list, right? Think about it, this whole project is gonna involve metal and all sorts of fun new toys. Or, um tools, I mean tools."

Thor just shook his head as Tony rambled on. He had a tendency to talk when he was excited. Or nervous. Or angry. Or anytime he was experiencing an extreme emotion, really.

"Of course, but first you must meet Odin and formally accept his hospitality."He shot his companion in arms a look. "Generously, politely, sedately accept."

Tony made a face. "Not usually my style." Thor stopped walking. "But for you, I'll make an exception."

"Please do, friend Tony. Odin has made quite the allowance giving leave for a mortal to enter Asgard. If your behavior is good then he maybe inclined to let others come." Thor replied.

Tony smirked, "And by others you mean Jane Foster."

Thor frowned. "I did not say-"

"You didn't have to." Tony laughed straightening his suit. "Alright, I'll do the best I can to be a good little mortal when in public so as not to scare the inlaws."

Thor felt himself sag slightly with relief. "Thank you, friend."

"Anytime. So, let's get this show on the road."

By the time they reached the entrance hall for the great hall. Thor was nervous all over again.

Of all the Avengers, Tony Stark was by far the smartest and cleverest. He had not lied to Odin when he had said Tony would be willing and able to study the Bifrost and help fix it. Tony's mind was as bright as a star. But Thor had ulterior motives. Odin had been overjoyed at Thor's love for the scientist Jane Foster. He claimed that, while Jane was a perfectly agreeable young lady, she would not be a match for Thor. He sighted her short lifespan and lack of power as reasons. The god understood his father's worries and they were valid, but Thor knew that she was the one he loved.

If only Odin and Frigga could meet her then they would see. All he needed was a good reason and means of transportation. It was then he thought of the Bifrost and of Tony. It was a perfect plan. The mortals help Asgard, Asgard helps them, relationships are secured and Jane's mortal body would no longer be an issue.

Of course, that depended on the overall success of Tony's visit. Of all the Avengers, Tony was the most brilliant and the most ill mannered.

Thor prayed to the Norns that all would go well. Or as well as could be expected with Tony involved.

An usher walked down the hallway towards them carrying a tray of drinks.

"You will be called in, but in a moment. A bit of mead?" he smiled at the prince and his mortal friend.

Tony snatched a glass with a smile and witty remark that Thor didn't quite hear. He then tossed the mead back, draining the glass quickly and returning it to the tray.

Both Asgardians blinked once before Thor shrugged his shoulders and downed his own glass.

"Should he have?" The usher gestured vaguely to Tony's empty glass.

Tony smirked as Thor attempted to explain Tony's drinking habits.

"Like water?" The usher asked, aghast.

"Yes, somewhat." Thor agreed.

The usher looked a bit concerned before a trumpet sounded and the man disappeared.

"Please, do not embarrass me?" Thor whispered.

"When you ask so nicely? Never." Tony gave the charming smile that Thor had seen at many a party on Midgard. Thor nodded and motioned for Tony to follow.

As soon as the doors opened the hall was flooded with the sound of cheering. He and Stark walked into The Great Hall and down the middle walk as the citizens of Asgard called and cheered their names. He knew Tony would be smiling in his charming way, maybe even waving at the beautiful women as they passed. He called it making a good impression. Thor had other names for it, but judging by the increased cheering and screaming it was working well enough. When they reached the steps before the throne Thor kneeled, laying a closed fist over his heart.

After the loud clang from Odin's great staff, Gungnir, the hall became silent. It was then that Thor realized that Tony was not kneeling. Blast.

"Thor Odinson. You bring before me the mortal Anthony Stark." His father's voice echoed about the hall.

"Yes, father. This is my comrade in arms, my Shield Brother, Man of Iron, inventor, Tony Stark. He has graciously agreed to assist with the task at hand. The rebuilding of the Bifrost."

Odin was quiet a moment and Thor could feel his eyes move to Tony. Who was still standing.

"You have agreed to this, Anthony Stark?"

"I have." Tony's voice was strong, fearless.

"You agree to accept my hospitality as my honored guest and to submit to the laws of this realm howsoever long you are here?"

Odin waited for a response. The whole room waited for a response. Thor could feel the tension in the room mounting with each moment.

"I will submit to the All Father." Thor could here Tony moving to kneel at his side. "For howsoever long I am here."

Thor sucked in a breath and looked at Odin. The old man looked amused.

"Then rise, Thor Odinson and Anthony Stark, Man of Iron."

Thor beamed at Tony as they stood. That had gone better than he had hoped.

"On the matter of your task." Odin continued, grabbing the attention of the crowd. "The Bifrost is a delicate instrument of precision, utilizing both your sciences and our magic. To rebuild it you will require someone with an understanding of the art of magic." His eyes moved to the large doors leading to an antechamber. Loki was brought forward.

Thor's eyes shot wide. His father had not mentioned this to him.

"Loki Odinson," the All Father began. "You have an unparalleled understanding of magic and science. None would be better fit for the task of working with Anthony Stark and rebuilding the Bifrost." Loki's eyes moved from the All Father to Thor to Tony and back, but he did not speak. "If you would agree to do this task and submit to the laws of this realm, you will be considered to have served your initial sentence. Will you agree, Loki, son of mine?"

Thor stood stock still, torn. This could ruin his plans for Jane to visit Asgard, Loki was a wild card in any bet. On the other hand, this was a wondrous opportunity for Loki to prove his loyalty to Asgard. A similar opportunity would not present itself again. With a little luck and work from both sides, perhaps it could work out favorably for both he and his brother.

"I will accept your offer, Odin Allfather." Loki's reply was soft, but strong. He kneeled slowly, fist over his heart, eyes never leaving their father's.

"You have no objections, Anthony Stark?"

All attention switched in the blink of an eye to Tony. Thor swallowed thickly as he watched his friend and his brother glare at each other.

Suddenly Tony smiled at Odin. "No problems here."

Thor blinked, surprised. He looked up at Odin who, amazingly enough, looked amused again.

Gungnir hit the ground again, "It is done."

Thor smiled radiantly as the crowds went wild, cheering such wise decisions. He wrapped an arms around both his friend and his brother.

"It is good to see you both setting aside your differences for the good of Asgard." He beamed

"Oh yes, just can't wait to get working with my new buddy." Tony replied shooting the sorcerer a look across Thor's chest. "No hard feelings about getting your ass handed to you by a bunch of mortals. Right, Dasher?"

"No more than you getting thrown out your own window, I suppose." Loki smirked

Thor looked between them and laughed.

"I think you are well suited for each other!" He declared. "You both are witty… and a bit spiteful."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Tony asked in a voice that qualified as a pout in Thor's mind.

"He means you are rude and invite rudeness upon yourself." Loki replied

Tony looked decidedly unimpressed. "He was talking about you too. At least I am a good guy."

Loki's smile was dripping with condescension and Thor could tell this conversation was beginning to go sour. "That is exactly why it is worse for such things to be said about you, Stark. Supposed hero."

"That is not how I meant what I said and you both know it."Thor interjected, "I simply meant you are well matched for the verbal bouts that you so favor."

Loki snorted, ducking under Thor's arm as their mother drew closer. "Indeed."

Tony also slipped under Thor's arm. "He seems to have really warmed up to you, Point Break. Have you tried changing his food?"

"Tony." Thor said warningly

"Yeah, I know. Good mortal, nice mortal." His eyes lit on Frigga who was currently holding Loki's hands and smiling. "Who is that? She's gorgeous. Can I have her number?"

Thor felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up and a wave of protective anger curl in his stomach. He gave Tony a highly disapproving look and said. "That, Stark, is my mother."

"You have got to be kidding me. Damn, no wonder you look like a GQ model. She looks too young for Odin. Not that she looks like a girl, but a good looking lady like her could find a guy with some color in his hair. She could go cougar. I think she'd make a great cougar, lets introduce her to Steve. Whatdya say?" Tony was rattling on again and saying the most ridiculous things that Thor couldn't help but smile a little. "Really though, she's pretty."

Thor finally smiled in earnest. "She is a good mother." Tony nodded back his eyes analyzing her every move and Thor realized she was touching Loki's face gently with a soft look in her eyes. "She is Loki's mother as well. It takes a strong and loving woman to take another's child to her chest as her own."

"No doubt. It takes a strong woman to raise children in general." Tony replied distractedly and Thor nodded for he knew that Tony's own parents were not the doting kind.

Frigga's eyes lit on him and her smile was radiant even as she slid her hand into Loki's arm. Loki looked decidedly sour as he was dragged back to Thor and Tony.

"Thor, my boy." She touched his cheek. "How goes things on Midgard?"

"They are well mother, though there was a bit of jealousy over Tony being allowed and the others not. Other than that we fair as well as ever."

"Speaking of fair, if Thor had told us that you are half as fair as you are there would have been some serious casualties in the fight for the right to come. Pretty sure the Hawk considered shooting me as it was. I'm Tony Stark." Tony smiled from his place next to Thor.

She smiled and turned to face him. "So I have heard. I am Figga, Odin's queen and the mother of Loki and Thor."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." He used his most charming smile and made no move to touch her and Thor was pleased.

"Indeed. And thank you for being so kind to put aside your past and agreeing to work with Loki. You are both being so good about his." Her eyes were for Loki then expressing love and hope.

Loki's expression was schooled. "Of course. We cannot let petty differences keep us from our goals."

"Oh definitely. I'm looking forward to picking your brain for new ideas." Tony confessed, surprising Thor greatly. "I'm totally jealous of how you summoned your armor in Germany. I have decided that you will tell me how to do it or I'm going to annoy you to death. Those are the choices, but either way you'd better get used to me."

Frigga and Loki both looked a bit shocked at the confession.

"Really Stark? I didn't know you were so interested." Loki replied, eyebrows slightly raised

"I am always interested." Tony smirked and Thor could see that all too familiar mischief in his eyes. "For instance, the first thing I wanna do is take a good look at the Iron Works. That thing looks awesome, floating tower things around it and what not. Exploring it is gonna be epic. It's like its meant to be, Ironman, Iron Works. Come on."

Loki grinned dangerously. "Oh, I think not. There is far more for you to learn about magic before we allow you to work in the hearth flames."

Tony visibly pouted. "Tour!"

Figga giggled and Thor and Loki's heads both turned around in shock.

I don't think a little tour of the Iron Works would hurt anything Loki, dear. You could use it as an opportunity to teach him the different metals we have here that might be used on the Bifrost."

Thor's head spun as Loki gave some grumbled assent. Tony had charmed his mother in record time without being the least bit untoward. He therefore could not complain. It didn't stop him from giving Tony an annoyed look that was mirrored by Loki as Tony took Frigga's other arm and asked if might escort her to the dining hall. She thanked him kindly and took his arm and even though he was shorter than her he exuded an air of utmost confidence as he asked her how she did her hair and if there was magic in that too cause he knew women who would kill for hair like hers. Thor found himself walking next to Loki and they shared a look of disapproval.

"I thought he intended to make me look like an ungrateful child." Loki nearly growled

"As did I. Trying to make himself look better in comparison." Thor mumbled

"Instead I looked like a stuffy old teacher and he looked like an excited child out for his first day of lessons." Loki snarled

"In spirit or otherwise, mother loves children. On top of that he expressed a great interest in you and your abilities."

"Pulling on her heart strings and wrapping then around him, clever." Loki certainly didn't look like he thought it was clever. He looked like he wanted to throw Tony through another window.

"Indeed." Thor wasn't quite willing to hurt Tony, but he was considering a heated scolding.

The instant they stepped inside the dining hall, Thor lost track of Tony. He felt a welling up of panic in his chest even as he smiled and nodded to all the guests. Tony was a chaotic mess. It wasn't his fault, it was how he worked. Like a hurricane impaling straw through telephone poles, he made the impossible possible in the midst of chaos. Tony could also rival Loki for the sharpness of his tongue and inability to know when enough was enough.

He promised to make a good impression. He promised to be on his best behavior. He promised. He repeated these words in his head continually as he scanned the room for the smaller mortal. Then caught sight of the wine and mead and groaned. He turned back to Loki to ask for his assistance only to find him gone as well. He was standing in a crowded dining hall with one lost mortal and one brother let lose while hoping rather pathetically that this night would go well.

Blast.

* * *

Loki watched from a safe enough distance as Thor spun looking for him and watched his head drop into his hand in frustration when he realized Loki was no longer there watching his head spin about the hall like a fool. He smirked at Thor tried to save face and smile at the group that flocked around him now that his dark brother was gone. Thor was fool to think he would be able to keep an eye on the mortal at a party like this. No matter his good intentions he would become rambunctious and drunk by the end of the night and completely lose track of Stark. Similarly, Stark's reputation would lead one to imagine him also getting uproariously drunk and causing his own scene. They would both be considered the life of the party no doubt.

Shield Brothers indeed.

Loki snorted and began to twist his way through the crowd looking for his brother's lost item. Few of the Aesir who even acknowledged his presence did so with more kindness that a grudging respect and Loki could feel his lip curling in high annoyance already. The blasted party had just begun. He could feel the need to cause mischief chafing against his mind and knew that bottling the desire up would only serve to cause more trouble in the end. Without further thought he grabbed the backside of the next woman he passed rather amorously causing her jump and spin, but he was well away from her by then. The gentleman she unloaded her anger upon was shocked and flustered having no idea of what was going on. This cause more of a scene as her anger mounted and finally she slapped him. Hard. Loki's grin was downright dastardly as the poor man fell back mumbling apologies and beg your pardons and what not and Loki laughed and ducked away before anyone can rightfully accuse him of causing the raucous.

He ducked behind the shoulders of a large armored warrior and came nose to nose with Stark. He immediately straightened and Stark found himself glaring at his collar bone. His eyes snapped up as he stepped back. His brown eyes looked highly amused and he tossed a glance behind Loki.

"She looks pretty angry, but I have to say that was one of the most amazing cops I have ever had the pleasure to witness." Mischief filled brown eyes like mead fills a cup. "Bet you couldn't do it again."

Loki stared at him for a long moment before he grinned slow and terrible. He grabbed Stark's arm firmly pulling him along. They circled back around quickly and Loki whispered in Stark's ear, the grin easily discernible. "The trick is to twist and get behind someone else before the woman turns. The trick to making sure there is enough time before the woman turns is to truly shock her. The trick to truly shock her is to make the action exceedingly shocking."

"I think I see where you are going with this." Stark grinned

"Indeed? Then that should make things easier." Loki smirked

"If I get slapped I would like to inform you that I will be passing it on to you." He replied glaring, but Loki chuckled and shook his head.

"You will stand where I put you and when I come back you will speak as if I have been carrying on a conversation with you."

Tony grinned. "You are scandalous. How can I be seen with you?"

Loki said nothing as he let go of Stark's arm. He spared a glance over his shoulder to be certain that Stark was standing still and quickly slipped behind a man and performed the same act on another lady's hindquarters. There was an exceedingly loud gasp, but Loki had swept around the first person he saw. Eyes locked on her and her scandalized face and he was standing next to Stark just as she turned and her eyes lit on the poor man from before. He never even got the chance to defend himself as she raised her hand and dropped it against his face harshly. The man fell to the floor wondering why the world hated him. There was a lot of screeching and accusing and yelling and Stark was laughing and several eyes moved to him in utter shock to which he shrugged.

"Some men just can't control themselves faced with such a stunning lady. What lovely eyes you have, what color would you call them?" His smile would have melted Jotenheim. The woman blushed darkly and explained that her eyes were just brown weren't they? Stark, being the dog he was, exclaimed that they certainly were not. "They glow in the candle light, like a good whiskey by the fire on a cold night, but you don't have whiskey here do you? It's a good drink and a great color for eyes. Now mine, mine are just brown." He rambled and the lady was enchanted as were several other ladies.

Loki rolled his eyes and made to leave for clearly all the had been drained from this situation, but Stark grabbed his arm and pulled him over.

"But if you really wanna talk about lovely eyes, this guy has an awesome set. Look at that, green as green could be. Aren't they lovely?" The group of women were suddenly inspecting his eyes and he felt nerves rise in him. "Such pale skin and dark hair too, he is gonna have some beautiful kids don't you think? I mean, with the right woman of course." Stark was ginning like a fool now and the ladies looked confused. "It would take quite a woman to tame this wild oat, don't you think? She'd have my respect."

Loki became painfully aware that every woman in earshot was suddenly fixated on him. One grabbed his arm and looked up at him with deep blue eyes and asked him how he fared this eve. Another followed suit asking about his plans for the Bifrost. Three more pressed close and asked him if they could explain magic to them and if he would please show them something, Odin did say he was the best.

Loki played true to his form and sweet talked them all. He completely lost track of Stark in the mess, though he did have a sense of him around nearby. He didn't realize until later that he had stayed in the dining hall far past his usual time. Soon he was handed decanter after decanter of ale as were the women and Stark and Thor, who had come from nowhere to pat Loki on the back and whisper something suggestive in his ear.

Somewhere between the six and the sixtieth tumbler of ale, which in all reality were pitchers that should have been shared by a table of people, they all ended up in bed. Loki was the first to wake and realize it was the same bed. He had three women draped over him with scant a thing on. A quick glance to him that Stark and Thor were also in the bed and similarly dressed with women of their own. He cursed softly and Stark's eyes slid open lazily. Loki glared at the damned mortal, but he only shrugged and stretched with a smile.

"Now that is what I call a damned good welcoming party."

Loki slapped a hand over his face and decided it was far too early to deal with this.

* * *

**A/N: HAHA! Oh Tony just got Loki laid, with three different women no less. That is what I call a wing man. Loki is terrible at parties clearly. And the poor dude who got slapped and did nothing more than likely went home alone lol. Love it hate it let me know!**


	2. Chapter 2

Waking up had been awkward, made more awkward by the fact that everyone else was still asleep except Loki who was half dressed. He stretched and groaned.

"What time is it?"

Loki glared at him over his shoulder as he untangled the lacings on his shirt. Who the hell puts laces on a shirt anyway? "It is far past time for reputable men and women to be out of bed and about, but I suppose since you are an adulterer it is perfectly fine to still be lazing about." Loki's smile was poisonous. "How are you feeling by the way? Rested? Well spent? Or an overall feeling of blissful affair?"

Tony's eyes snapped open. He shot a dirty look at the god. "I hate your face right now, you know that? I think you owe me some kinda break from that wit of yours. I got you so laid that you can't walk right." Finally he grinned. "Three girls in one night. Can I get a hell yeah?"

Loki pointedly ignored him as he pulled on his stupid laced shirt. He was shifting his weight suspiciously.

"Gonna take that as a thank you Tony." He laughed softly.

"My mother will be expecting to hear from us about our Tour by midmeal. In case your slow mortal mind cannot fathom what that means, we must finish our tour by then. So drag my great lumbering brother from his bed and get to breakfast." He turned and opened the door. "Oh, and be a dear and dismiss those maidens while you are at it, wont you?"

Tony threw a pillow at the door and giggles erupted from beside him and Thor began to groan and stretch. Tony watched as the God of Thunder crawled out of bed and strutted a bit in front of the girls and then stretched again. He was tall, muscled, well built, totally cut, and right in front of Tony's face.

"Fuck Thor, seriously? Morning wood and everything." Tony groaned and slapped a hand over his face

Thor just laughed, "Tis the evidence of true manhood." He smirked at the women and they broke into a fit of giggles.

"Sure thing big guy, but I don't need to see it." He mumbled and then it struck him. "Oh shit, Pepper is going to flay me!" He covered his face with his hands.

Thor, who had been standing chest to chest with one of the girls froze through she didn't. Another young lady was carding her hand through Tony's hair which should have been soothing, but under the circumstances not so much. He could feel a hangover creeping up.

"Jane will not approve either." Thor said softly.

Tony disentangled himself from the sheets of Thor's bed and wasn't that a bit mind blowingly awesome and yet seriously disturbing all at the same time. He tumbled about for a moment before grabbing his pants and hopping on one leg trying to get them up. He shot Thor a disbelieving look, "Yeah she is, unless you are in an open relationship. I sure as hell ain't. Dman it!" He nearly fell on his face. The ladies giggled again.

"Who is this Jane and Pepper you speak of? Surely they must be great women if they inspire such worry in the hearts of their men." A curvy blonde smiled with a raised eyebrow

Thor was suddenly moving. He gathered the cloths for the women and pulled on a pair of linen pants as Tony looked for his shirt and belt. Thor was shutting the door when Tony finally pulled his belt out from under Thor's chainmail. The god whirled around with a serious look on his face and Tony had a bad feeling. He was only half dressed in another man's bedroom getting a too serious look and yeah that's weird.

"Thor, I love you like a brother and that's as far as its going." He glanced around suddenly realizing they were missing part of their party. "Speaking of brothers, where's yours?"

Thor waved him off impatiently. "He left much earlier this morning. I want to ask you, what do you mean 'open relationship'?"

Tony blinked. Oh. "Oh, well it's a relationship where you can still sleep with and go out with other people. Like you could do what you just did and Jane would be ok with it. Likewise, she could do what you just did and you would be ok with it. That sum it up for you buddy?"

Thor looked angry, thunderous even. "Are you suggesting that Jane has not been faithful?"

The god looked ready to take his mortal friend to the mat to protect his lady's honor. Tony could feel himself getting more grey hair. "No, Thor listen. I said that, if you were in an open relationship, you and she would have come to an understanding that that behavior was ok. If you and she have not had this conversation, then it is understood that this behavior is not ok. Did you and Jane have a conversation about a relationship?" Tony decided one step at a time was better for Thor.

The god nodded slowly. "We did, but only in that we decided we had one."

"But nothing about open vs. closed?" Tony prodded. The other shook his head and Tony smiled. "Then it is understood, in our culture, that you and her both expect fidelity in your relationship. So no, she probably has done any honor destroying, but you have."

Thor immediately looked guilty. "What am I to tell her?" He asked helplessly

"Get her something nice. Tell her I was there and was on a mission to get everyone laid, including Loki. Get down on one knee and tell her you are amazingly sorry and that you will never do it again. Then wait for her to stop being angry, cause hell is she gonna be angry." Tony suggested as he pulled his shirt on and walked toward the door.

Thor nodded thoughtfully. "Thank you my friend. Where are you going?" He frowned

"Huh? To get clean obviously. And maybe find for alcohol, yeah alcohol would be nice." Tony grumbled rubbing his head. He could already see the look on Pep's face.

"You know not where your room is."

"… Hey Thor can I use your bathroom?"

"Of course, my friend." Thor chuckled.

000

After a quick cleaning up, Thor and Tony had moved to the Dining Hall, as Thor called it. That sounded a bit fancy until he saw the massive room with an ornate table and chairs. The surface was covered in foods and platters already and several chairs were occupied. Thor leaned close to Tony.

"My father and mother normally take their meals in their rooms as does Loki now, but I prefer to eat with my friends out here."

He then waved to a group of men and a woman near the center of the table. Tony mentally assed them as they drew closer. Woman, dark hair, strong jaw, strong stance, wearing armor before noon, a warrior. Man, slim, blond, good looking, confident stance, also wearing armor, warrior. Man, shorter, dark haired, stoic, buff build, calculating stare, again, armor, warrior. Last but not least by any stretch was a man, tall, huge, happy as a clam, still shoveling food, wearing armor, warrior. So he had an over achieving girl, a playboy like himself, a strong silent type, and a big easy going glutton. Sweet.

"Friends!" Thor called happily as he approached. "Tony Stark, these are my shield brother's and sister of Asgard. Lady Sif and The Warriors Three, Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg. Friends, this is my shield brother from Midgard, Tony Stark, Man of Iron."

Tony smiled charmingly at them and they grinned happily back.

"We have heard so much about you." The blond Fandral said

"All bad things I am sure." He grinned

"Not at all!" The chunky one, Volstagg laughed. "He tells us nothing, but how smart you are and how cunning. Reminded me a bit of Loki." He was not so discretely elbowed in the side by Sif. "What?"

"Not that you would be capable of doing what Loki did." Sif smiled quickly

Tony's smile was a touch wicked as he responded. "No, I would have won." The others blinked. "Anyways, let's eat. Can't go fixing a Bifrost on an empty stomach."

Thor shook his head, but had a seat next to his friends. The five of them ate and talked. They joked and spun tales of battle and recent events, gossip, what not. Tony sat and watched, he was never one for breakfast. When Thor had finally finished he patted his belly and sighed.

"I have business to attend to so I must be off." He turned to Tony. "Shall I tell Loki you await him here?"

Tony blinked for a second then remembered he had agreed to work with the psycho. He smiled.

"Sure thing."

Thor grinned and stood. "Then I am off. Good day friends."

"Good day." They echoed in unison minus Tony, but Thor smiled none the less as he made his way out of the Dining Hall.

Sif turned to him the instant Thor was gone. "I have heard you agreed to work with Loki. That is brave of you knowing what he can do."

Tony looked at her, a bit surprised, before he realized she was analyzing him much like the quite one, what was his name? Hogun. He put on his poker face and smiled.

"Yes, I must confess I was a bit worried about how it would work out. I mean we are just so much alike he and I." he mock sighed

Volstagg laughed heartily. "Is that so? Did I not say the same thing just a moment ago?"

"Indeed you did. How are you alike do you think, Starkson?" Fandral asked interested now

Tony tried not to twitch at 'Starkson'. "You know, we both had a rocky childhood, relationship wise. We both like big flashy things that out do everyone else. We're both smart. We're both verbally well equipped. And," He smirked right at Sif. "we both can read people pretty easily."

Sif raised an eyebrow before looking away quickly, pretending to check her belt. "Yes, surely you two are very much alike. Except you are a mortal hero and he is a god."

There was a challenge in her eyes that really grated on Tony's ego.

"Well, that depends on who you talk to." He replied seemingly unfazed

"Oh?" Fandral asked

"Yeah, some say that Loki and Thor are gods. Others say that they are not. Some say we are heroes and some say there is a point at which you pass that." He explained casually.

"Are you claiming mortals can be gods?" Fandral sounded fascinated

"Well of course. You call Thor a god, don't you? Things aren't so different on Earth, or uh Midgard. Thor'll tell you, we have some powerful beings of our own." He grinned

"Then you are saying you are a god?" Hogun finally spoke up. Clearly he was tired of beating around the bush.

"Yep."

"Oh, you cannot be serious!" Fandral laughed, but Sif looked skeptical and she was the leader. If Tony could throw her off then he could throw them all.

"Who defeated Loki and stopped an army from invading? Who stopped a God and a Titan from decimating and dominating a world? Who tossed a weapon through their own portal and destroyed them? Who defends the Earth now from invaders? That was us, Gods of Midgard." Tony smirked

"Truly?" Volstagg was the only one brave or dumb enough to ask, but Tony could see interest in the others so he rolled with it.

"Oh yes, we are Gods. I, Man of Iron, am the God of Ingenuity and Intellect; the spark in my chest is the spark of creation. Steve Rogers, Captain America, is the God Bravery and Honor; he inspires and directs those around him in clean and honorable battle. Clint Barton, Hawkeye, is the God of Prophecy and Foreknowing; his eyes see into the future and direct his arrows to fly true. Natasha Romanoff, Black Widow, is the Goddess of Secrecy and Seduction; she can be anyone without changing her appearance in the slightest. Bruce Banner, The Hulk, is the God of Balance and Control; his strength of body is matched by the calm of his temperament and the iron of his will. Our blessings are strong and follow whoever we bestow them upon throughout their line thereafter, but they are hard won.

Thor knows this for he earned his when he so selflessly gave of himself to save us and ours. He displayed quite wonderfully all our own qualities in his own right and thus earned our friendship, blessings, and loyalty. That is what is required of those who seek our gifts, few will be so luck as to receive them as our lives are short and the time we may grant them is all too short and sweet. You think you got what it takes?"

Sif and the warriors three stared in utter amazement. Tony's smile was one of challenge, but on the inside he was laughing. He could just here Cap now. 'Tony! You can't just tell people these things; they won't know you're kidding!' And he would say, 'Well, that was kinda the point there spangles.'

Sif looked skeptical, but her yes kept darting down to the 'spark of creation' in his chest. She opened her mouth, no doubt to ask a question that Tony might not be able to answer since he was pulling this out of his ass. He was saved by a silky amused voice from behind him.

"If you are quite done entertaining, Stark, I believe you were chomping at the bit for a chance to investigate our forges." Loki drawled

Tony's face lit up like a kid's on Christmas. "Sorry guys, questions are gonna have to wait. I have a date with my one true love!"

Fandrel looked quickly between Loki and Tony, the latter of which blew a raspberry at the implication.

"Don't flatter him, I'm talking about science."

"Thank the Norns, I was beginning to worry about unwanted affections." Loki smirked, "Waste not my time Stark, are you coming or not?"

Tony waved a peace sign at the warriors and blew Sif a kiss as he turned to follow Loki.

"You are an indescribably absurd mortal." Loki said as they walked through the golden halls of the palace

"I know, I'm a total show horse. What can I say? Gotta represent."

Loki rolled his eyes and sneered, "They will now be trying to garner your favor at every turn. You came here to help complete a task that requires a great understanding and knowledge. You have failed to prove you are capable of anything other than debauchery and impressive delusions of grandeur."

Tony mentally winced at the reminder of his infidelity, careful not to let it show on his face. By the knowing look Loki gave him, the bastard knew he had hit a nerve none the less. Tony wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of rising to that obvious a bait, but still, some diversionary tactics where in order.

"I believe what you meant to say was that I had proved my stunning wit which I might add, goes hand in hand with amazing intellect. They make wonderful music together. Speaking of which, do you guys have music that doesn't suck? Not that that wasn't some mean harp playing last night, but I think I need something with a bit more kick, more passion, more heart thumping drive, more-"

"Loud, obnoxious, chaos?" Loki offered in a bored tone.

"Exactly. How am I supposed to get my crazy, creative, mad scientist juices flowing without some crazy, creatively mad music?" Loki raised an eyebrow. Tony waved his hands for emphasis, "I need it help me focus."

"You need the loud, blithering, nonsense turned up so loud you cannot hear yourself think to concentrate?" Loki sneered

"I think too hard. Gives me something else to focus my mind on. ADHD." Tony replied. Loki looked decidedly unimpressed. Tony shrugged, "Well, lucky I brought my own."

Loki's head spun around. "You what?"

"I never travel anywhere without my toys. Though if Sif and the others ask, they are the tools of my Godhood. Make it sound as sacred as Thor's hammer. Last thing I need is for anyone to pull a Thor and break my equipment." Tony rambled. "You've no idea the amount of chaos he caused in my lab one time. You would have been proud."

Tony went on to loudly and animatedly explain how Thor, by touching a single welding torch that wasn't even on, managed to shoot the tank for the device across the room and into a window that was really a control panel for the rooms music system. Thor was apparently flustered and, in trying to stop the blaring music, didn't realize he had caught the room on fire until water began to rain down on him. The god then went on to attempt to stop the rain, bringing about a massive thunderstorm. By the time Tony had gotten down to his lab to see what was wrong the room had been utterly demolished. Windows were broken, tables where over turned, and half the room looked like the inside of a chimney. Bits and pieces of equipment and projects lay scattered and water logged on every inch of floor and in the midst of it all sat Thor, sopping wet and looking truly pathetic. He was too upset by the horrid turn of events to even make an effort towards explanation. Tony had been caught between indescribable fury and absolute hilarity. It helped that Jarvis had recorded the whole thing.

"But you know I already gave him my Godly Blessing, loyal friendship what not. So I forgave him. I'm straight up benevolent, I know." Tony smirked

Tony could see the muscles of Loki's face twitching and he grinned even wider.

"Yeah, he's lucky if we even let him use a toaster anymore. Not that he calls it a toaster, it's a poptart maker. Why? Cause it makes poptarts of course. Can't fault his logic on that one."

Loki's mouth was half way to a smile, it just needed one more push.

"Clint put a sign on his door that says Resident Poptart God. He was ecstatic."

Finally Loki broke and cracked a toothy smile and a huff of a laugh.

"Absurd mortal."

000

Loki had to stifle a laugh when Stark caught sight of the horses. He had not known the mortal's dislike of animals, but it was a happy surprise to watch the man duck away from the stead's head as if it might strike him down. It was even more entertaining to watch the man fiddle around and finally mount only to curse his stead and tell the beast it made better food than it did a vehicle when it pawed the ground impatiently. Stark was no horseman.

It didn't help that Loki spurred his horse into a full gallop provoking the other to follow. Stark's startled cry was priceless. As was his face as he fell.

Loki laughed hysterically as the other crawled back into his saddle a dark look on his face. He was still trying to catch his breath as the mortal walked past him.

"I find it hard to believe you are able to mount and please a woman when your skills are so very lacking Mr. Tony Stark. I am beginning to think your prowess as a playboy is highly exaggerated."

Stark held his head high and proclaimed, "I hate your smug god ass right now and don't think there won't be pay back. Cause there will."

"Oh, I look forward to it." He grinned. "Now, though I know your stamina is lacking, do try to keep up this time." And he took off again Stark's cursing following behind. By the time they reached the Iron Works Stark looked like a sincerely horrified cat clawing a piece of furniture. Loki smiled innocently. "Did you enjoy our race?"

"So. Much. Hate."

"Good to hear. I am assuming you know how to dismount yes?"

"…"

Loki laughed again as Stark glared down at his horse. Oh, he was going to enjoy this mortal's little stay. He quickly dismounted and crossed his arms to watch the mortal glare daggers at his stead.

"You could reenact that lovely dismount you so beautifully performed but a few minutes before." He offered

"Oh, haha. You're a riot; have you considered becoming a standup comedian?" Stark sneered. "Just shut the hell up and wait a second, princess."

Scathing though his comeback was, Stark still half falling half sliding out of the saddle. He turned back to Loki looking smug. The god rolled his eyes, "I know infants who can dismount with more grace. Wipe that look off your face, you look like a fool after that display."

"Hey, but I didn't fall!" He protested as they began walking toward the great arches that decorated the entrance to the forges.

"No, you slipped and slid and flopped like a fish dropped on deck of a boat over ridden with starving cats."

"What? Where do you come up with these things?" Stark shook his head

"I am verbose. My point is I cannot be seen in public with you again if you look like that every time." Loki replied

"Well damn, cause I so wanted to spend my days out with you. What will I do with my free time from here on out?" the other rolled his eyes

"Thor will make it his business to impart his horse sense on to you." Loki snorted

"Funny, I thought you were the one with an over abundance of horse sense, Spirit." Stark grinned

Loki shot him a dirty look before smiling nastily. "Are you offering to attempt to ride Sleipnir? How brave of you. I am sure Odin will not mind allowing the great midgardian god of ingenuity to ride his stead and grandchild."

Stark stared at him. "Holy shit, you're serious."

"Of course."

"I think I'm gonna pass." Stark looked uncomfortable.

Loki smirked "Perhaps you should think before you open your mouth next time, hum? Now, if you will, the tour."

The forge master, a dwarf as was custom, smiled and hailed as they approached. Introductions were made and they were taken into the hearth of the Iron Works. Stark looked like a child in a sweets shop. His eyes darted from item to item, element to element, technique to technique. He was soaking information up like a sponge and when the forge master asked if he had questions, he had many and they were engaging and showed clear understanding and intelligence. By the time they left Loki himself felt like he may have learned something. The mortal had every intention of creating in Asgard's forges the pieces they would need for their task. Both the mortal and the forge master seemed extremely excited about the whole ordeal and talked about it at length.

"Of course, Prince Loki will need to instruct you in some magic manipulation first. It will be necessary to work our hearth flames, but he is the greatest sorcerer in the kingdom, perhaps the Nine themselves. You will learn well from him." The forge master's smile was sincere. Weather it was from respect for his prince or excitement from the task he would be involved in, Loki did not know.

Stark smiled and winked at Loki. "I'll be expecting only the best." Loki smirked and shook his head.

Soon enough they were back at the horses, but the mortal was in such a good mood and chattering so much he hardly remembered to be angry or embarrassed about his abhorrent lack of ability. They road and spoke in near congeniality on their way back. Loki's overall assessment was that the mortal was first and foremost entertaining and also quite smart. He just might be able to learn what Loki had to teach magically and academically. It could work this whole business of rebuilding the Bifrost, assuming they did not drive one another mad first. Loki grinned. Yes this was going to be fun either way.

**000**

**A/N: Tada! It's a bit short I know, but it seemed like a good stopping point. I'm gonna go a bit deeper into the metals and what not that they will be using later when Loki and Tony start working together like with the blueprints and what not. Well this will get funnier when the prank war begins. I have some awesome ideas, but since this is mostly for fun I would like to hear any funny ideas yall might have. Not saying I will use them all or anything, but ya know for inspiration and jazz of that nature. Yeah. Anyway! Let me know how yall like the story so far!**


	3. Chapter 3

Loki was pursing his lips as he glared at one of the stacks of parchment. Tony could feel where he was coming from. They had been in Loki's study pouring over the parchment since they got back from the tour at the forge. Loki had taken them straight there when they got back and even the sorcerer had been surprised to see several large, neat stacks of parchment all nearly as tall as Tony waiting for them. They had looked at each other with raised eyebrows before Tony patted Loki on the shoulder and grinned.

"After you, Merlin."

Loki's study was gorgeous, even if it wasn't Tony's cup of tea. It was a large room lined with bookshelves and filled with tables displaying all kinds of piping and beakers that Tony would call chemistry sets, but Loki assured him were for Alchemy. There were no less than three desks, four large throne like arm chairs, six stools, and one lounge. The overall color scheme was deep, dark, wood, gold, and of course green. Basically, it was the exact opposite of Tony's clean white lines and utilitarian designs. The whole room made him feel like a wizard at Hogwarts or a sorcerer in King Arthur's castle. Maybe that last one wasn't too far off.

Either way, it was throwing him off. Tony didn't know how Loki was fairing, but he was having a hard time. He didn't have any idea what half the materials said to be used were, much less how and why they were used. There was some mention of an extremely resilient metal and he was pretty positive that it was the same thing Mjolnir was made out of, but that was about all he knew. He sighed and laid his face in his hand as he flipped to the next page. He blinked at it for a moment before he grinned.

"Hey, Loki, have a look at this!" He called

The green clad god glared up at him. "What?" He sounded frustrated, but Tony ignored it.

"I found schematics! Alien metals and magics be damned, this is a language I speak." He began digging through the stacks looking for anything that even remotely resembling schematics or blueprints and making a new stack. "Tell you what, Sparky, I'm gonna dig into these designs and you can brush up on the magic crap."

"Magic crap?" Loki growled. "Magic is the most important part, you fool. All your intricate designs are worthless if the magic is incorrect or, left up to you, nonexistent."

"Yeah, yeah, but you got that, right? I mean, I don't know anything about magic and I don't really want to know anything about it. I think we can both agree that you are the magic guru and I am just a mortal with no understanding of magic. Therefore, you with your vast knowledge, should do all necessary magicy type things. I'll take care of designs and mechanisms, moving bits and things like that."Tony replied as he continued to rummage through the parchment.

Loki rolled his eyes in annoyance, but Tony could see a hint of smugness there. "As true as everything you just said is, it is not so simple. If I were working on the Bifrost myself I could perform the magic alone, but since you will also be involved your magic must be used as well."

Tony paused. "What? My magic? I don't even have magic. What the heck, why does it matter if I am working on it?" He asked

"You know nothing. Everything you lay your hands on you pour a bit of yourself into, especially since you are a creator. If you create the 'moving bits' and put your magic in them and I do not take your magic into consideration then the magic will be thrown off. Your magic, however feeble, will go against mine and while it will not win, by any means. It will cause a discrepancy throwing off all our delicate work." Loki explained.

Tony stared. "I do magic without knowing I do magic? That seems a bit excessive. I don't think you should be able to do it on accident."

"Well I will take that into consideration at the next magic meeting. In the mean time-"

"Holy shit, you have magic meetings?"

Loki looked like he didn't know if he wanted to laugh or beat the hell out of him. "No you idiot, I was being sarcastic, you… I don't even know what to call you. Shut up and commit those designs to memory." He turned back to his stack and Tony frowned.

"Hey, how was I supposed to know?"

"I assumed you would use your brain, but that has been exaggerated I see." He sneered

"See if I ever play your wing man again. Ass." Tony stuck his tongue out

"Wing man?" Loki asked tilting his head.

Tony facepalmed. "Never mind, I'm just gonna do my work."

"You do that, Stark. Tomorrow I will begin teaching you how to find and utilize your magic." Loki said

"Seriously?"

"Are you trying to ask stupid questions, or is this a natural ability of yours?" Loki asked in a surgery sweet voice and smile

Tony glared. "Someone is in a bad mood. Are you still mad that I said magic crap? You are, aren't you. Alright, I'll be the bigger person. Loki, I am sorry I called your magic crap. There, is that better?"

The look he got was scathing.

"Alright. I am going to assume this is a sore subject for reasons I am unaware of and try not to take it personal. I think what you need is a day of stress free fun." Loki leveled a disbelieving look at him. "Seriously! It never fails to work on Pepper. She stresses herself out with work and worrying about things that she really shouldn't worry about, like you. We go find something pointless and yet fun to do and she feels better in no time. You need to take your mind off work and chill."

"I have every right to be stressing out! And I do not wish to take a break. The more quickly we accomplish this task, the more quickly I am able to regain some of my freedom. It will not be much, but it will be better than the pathetic existence that I now have." Loki seethed and viciously flipped through the stack of papers before him.

Tony knew he shouldn't. Really, he knew curiosity killed the cat or in this case mortal. He knew Loki was made of pure crazy and probably wouldn't take kindly to too much probing, but…

"So, freedom huh? I take it you didn't enjoy your punishment then. Not that I have any idea what it was, cause, ya know, Thor doesn't like to talk about anything even remotely bad about you. Ask him your favorite food and he'll talk for hours. Ask in passing how your punishment is going and he clams up and it starts raining."

"They locked me in a mirror." Loki said suddenly. He didn't lift his eyes from the parchment. "A repeating mirror. It allows the person who looks into it to repeat their actions until they get it right. Until it turns out best for the person whom is looking into its depths. It is a individual entity, the Allfather has no control over it or its outcomes so you know it is true."

Tony felt a little odd. It was disconcerting how Loki wouldn't look up, how he was so pensive. "What happened?" He had a feeling it wasn't what anyone was expecting.

Loki was quiet a moment. "It took a while to understand. It kept taking me back farther than I thought it would. Naturally, I thought it would have been best to win our little fight, or perhaps never… But that is not what it showed me."

Tony wanted to ask what it showed him. He wanted to know where Loki, God of Mischief went wrong, but he suddenly grew a conscious. "Well, that does sound pretty frustrating, but it could have been worse. Obviously your family is pretty fond of you or else they wouldn't go through all the trouble. I mean we would have just killed your ass and called it good, but no they try and teach you a lesson. Anyway, it's over now so why not celebrate?"

Loki sighed heavily and finally looked up from his papers to glare at Tony. "And what, pray tell, would you plan for us to do, hum? Drinking as we did last night? As fun as that was, I think it was more you and Thor's idea of fun than mine."

"Fair enough! What do you like to do for fun? Long walks on the beach under the light of the full moon?" Loki glared for a second before looking back to his work.

"Get back to work Stark."

Tony snorted. "I'll take a rain check today, but don't I'll forget. You are gonna relax and actually enjoy yourself before this is over."

Loki ignored him and Tony went back to his schematics grinning.

* * *

He was a resilient creature, Loki would give him that. The annoying thing managed to bring up the annoying subject of him relaxing up not once or twice, but no less than thirteen times before Loki finally pawned the damned mortal off on Thor who was all too happy to have him. They were sure to spend the night drinking and rough housing and what not, but Loki had work to do.

He went back to his study and began scanning his shelves for a certain book. He walked around the room twice before it finally caught his eye. He pulled the thick tome from the shelf and fell back onto the lounge. Flipping it open, he turned to the chapter on finding ones magical center and chuckled to himself as he read. It had been so long since he had looked through this book. It had been the time of childhood, sitting on Thor's bed reading about magic while his brother jumped about with his wooden sword fighting foes and, when the battle became difficult, calling for Loki's aid. They had a good childhood, he could admit that to himself at least.

But now he held this book for an entirely different purpose. He needed this book, not help him learn magic, but to help him teach it. He had considered simply tossing the mortal the book and telling him to figure it out, but that plan seemed ill advised. It would b a waste of time to simply allow the mortal to pour over the information in the think tome. He would, more than likely, read the book in its entirety then, not understanding half of what it said, he would come to Loki asking an inordinate number of questions when, in all reality, he only needed to know but a few skills. For instance, he needed to know how to call his magic to his fingers when creating and adorning metal with runes so as to give them power, and how to open his magical core to Loki so their magics could be combined and laid into the spell work.

He flipped through the pages looking for the least time consuming and yet effective way to teach the mortal how to find his magic. Acknowledging ones magic and becoming practiced at finding it when one needed it was the first essential step in becoming a sorcerer. Loki chuckled again. As if the mortal would ever be a true sorcerer, but he did need to know these basic skills to complete the work on the Bifost. He would teach the mortal to do this. He had to do it, his freedom depended on it.

He shivered. The mirror. He had thought he would never get out of the damned thing. It seemed like eternities had gone by while he had lived and relived and relived his life until he realized the right path. It was frustrating and terrifying. There were so many things that could have been done. So many things that could have changed to make things the way they should have been, but he didn't have control of what other people did, how they thought or what they said or anything. This is what the mirror was trying to teach him. He could not control what life threw at him, but he could change the outcome by the way he reacted.

The lesson had been learned and he had been released from the mirror, but that didn't mean his punishment was over. Just because one realized and admitted they had done something wrong didn't mean one didn't have to deal with the consequences of those actions. His punishment would go in stages. He was currently under dire restrictions. First and foremost, his magic had been dampened to the point of uselessness. He was not allowed communication with anyone outside of the royal family, excepting the servants who brought him food. He was not allowed beyond his chambers unless accompanied by guards or his family. He was not allowed to travel at all, even through skrying which was not true travel, but the Allfather had forbid it none the less. Even when he and Stark finished rebuilding the Bifrost, he would not be allowed travel. He would be allowed out of his rooms, a bit more freedom of magic and be allowed to socialize again, but that was it.

Even so, Loki longed for it. After the mirror and all its frustration, he longed for reality and differentiation. He hated to admit it, but he missed Thor and the other members of the realm. He missed watching the people dance and frolic at feasts, playing tricks and laughing. He missed being able to move about freely to and from the realms, but at this point he would be happy to go to and from the palace library without armed guard.

He growled suddenly.

Why was he thinking of these things? It was that mortal's fault, distracting him and asking him questions that were none of this business. What did it matter why Loki was so anxious to be done with their task as long as they finished? And was Stark himself not eager to finish and go home to his family and friends? Perhaps his curiosity was stronger than Loki originally thought. He sighed and flipped another page, finally finding what he was looking for. He put his previous thoughts aside for later and began to read about relaxation techniques and descriptions of the pull of magic.

* * *

The next morning Loki was feeling refreshed and ready to teach a worthless mortal a thing or two about magic. Stark on the other hand was passed out across the foot of Thor's bed much like the night before minus the busty women. He smirked and unceremoniously yanked Stark's leg. The mortal let out a strangled yip as he fell to the floor in a tangle of limbs and sheets.

"Arise Man of Iron. We continue our task of rebuilding the Bifrost this morn. I hope you are well rested, for I intend to accomplish much this day."

Stark's glare would burn Serta himself. "Well you can feel free to start without me." He looked to Thor's window and balked. "What the hell time is it anyway? Damnit, Loki go back to bed." He groaned

Loki grinned. "Come now Stark, I cannot continue without you."

"And why the hell not?" He was suspicious. Such good instincts.

"We are to work on your magic today, do you not remember? We spoke of it just yesterday before dinner." He smiled

"What? You-"

"Tony, if you and my brother must argue, can you not do it elsewhere? I intend to continue to sleep and you two are making it nigh impossible." Thor's mumble sounded like distant thunder across the bedroom. It left Loki's bones vibrating, bringing old memories to the surface of days long past when they shared a room.

Loki shook his head and watched with his most innocent look as Stark drug himself to his feet. His glare clearly said he didn't believe the mask for a moment. Loki smiled sweetly. "Enjoy you rest brother." Thor raised one hand in acknowledgement before dropping back off to sleep without so much as opening his eyes. Stark had a glare for him too. Anyone not being made to rise from their beds earned his ire so it seemed.

Loki braced himself for the tirade that was sure to explode the instant the left Thor's room. He was not disappointed. No sooner had the heavy wooden door shut than the mortal's mouth opened.

"I cannot believe you dragged me out of bed at this ungodly hour, and yes I do mean ungodly. Do you see anyone else awake? Huh? No you don't, cause it is damned well time to be asleep. I am old, you know. I have kids, like little babies, and I'm in my forties. I know that isn't a big deal to you, but that's old to be having kids when you're a mortal alright?" It was truly amazing the amount he managed to speak in one breathe. "I was enjoying this. It was like a vacation. No kids, no work, no superheroness, no Pepper. Not that I don't love work and kids and Pepper and superheroness. But on occasion I need a break. A me day. A day where I just sit back and think about Number One and nothing else. Now I know I agreed to do this when I came here, and I'm good with that, but you could like let me sleep at least 7 hours at a time." He was waving his hands around while he talked, like it somehow made what he was saying more understandable, which it didn't, but it did make him more interesting to watch. More entertaining at the very least. "Not that I would need to sleep all the time. I'm not geriatric, but I gotta acclimate. Once I have had time to adjust to being here and not having kid duty and what not I won't need to sleep much at all. Just ask Thor, before I had the kids I slept like maybe three or four hours a night tops. And when I hit a breakthrough, I didn't sleep at all. We are talking like four days running on nothing but coffee and bad ideas. So, yeah we can totally do the sleep deprivation thing, just give me a few days to charge up and-"

"Do you ever stop talking?" He asked feigning amazement. Stark stared at him. "I mean really, it is amazing how much you speak in such a short period of time. If you would be silent for but a moment I could give you reasons as to why you are awake at this 'unglodly' hour." He waited and when Stark did nothing but glare he continued. "While I did take a decent amount of pleasure rousing you from your sleep in an un-agreeable fashion, I do have a reason. I intend to teach you to find your core. The best time to do this is just before dawn when your body is drowsy as is the world. You are very in sync with the world at this time."

"Yeah, I am totally drowsy and in sync and shit like that. Something about being yanked by my ankle really does that for me." Stark snorted. Loki ignored him.

"Your mind perhaps has awoken, but your body still remembers sleep and will be naturally more relaxed than in the evening when the stresses of the day's events weigh heavily on your mind." He grabbed the mortal's hand when he tried to turn towards the study. "This way. We will do this in my bedroom. The windows there will allow for symmetrical viewing of the rising sun."

"Well that does sound romantic."

"Do shut up, Stark."

They entered Loki's chambers and went straight through the antechambers to the bed room. Loki had to physically pull Stark through them. His eyes went wide the instant Loki threw the doors open, suddenly much more awake than be was just a moment before. He tried to stop and touch everything he saw that looked even remotely interesting. Loki jerked him away from the walls and tables and book shelves and heavens even the chairs. The nerve of this mortal, he would just reach out and take without so much as asking permission.

"It would serve your right if you managed to grab a cursed item." Loki hissed. "Keep your hands to yourself."

Stark's eyes were sharp and wide. "You got cursed shit in here? That sounds interesting. What kind of curses are we talking about? I mean are they like fortune cookies gone bad or are we talking your children's children's children will feel my wrath?"

Loki got the feeling Stark's mind was whirling with possibilities. He had been a weapons maker before he was a hero. "Some are more or less than others in their severity. It rather depends on the intent of the caster. Now will you come on!" He finally managed to man handle the man into the bedroom. Stark's eyes sparkled with amusement.

"Be gentle with me!" He cried as Loki shoved him onto the window seat.

"Oh yes, because you have so much chastity to worry about. Silence yourself and your mind, you will need complete focus to-"

"Holy shit what kind of animal is that?" Stark asked pointing a finger to the rug before his eyes caught on the ceiling, "Wow, is that an exact replica of the night sky? Yours are different, but that really should have been obvious and what the heck is that glowing thing over your desk over there?" He pointed, "They're just rolling and tumbling through the air like crazy. Are they used for something or are they just there for decoration? Either way, I want one."

Loki stared at him for a moment before smacking the back of his head.

"Ouch! What the hell man?" Stark growled, rubbing his head and looking at his hand. Loki rolled his eyes.

"I said you need to focus!"

"Well I'm in a whole different room full of interesting new things. It's kinda hard to focus!" Even as he said the words Loki could see the mortal's eyes find some new thing to focus on and analyze.

"Then shut your eyes! We do not have all day." Loki planted a hand over the man's face and decided he was not going to take Stark's interest in his things as a compliment saying he was interesting. "Now clear your pathetic little mind!"

Loki knew the endeavor was a lost cause almost immediately. Stark's body was strung tight as a bow under his hand and what he could see of the man's face was in a snarl. Loki didn't let up though. It was necessary for the mortal to be used to his close proximity and while this attempt would not secure Stark's magical footing it could be used to adjust the other to Loki's company. He forced his own body to relax and took deep calming breaths.

"Relax, Stark."

"Call me crazy, but having you all close and personal isn't really helping me in that department." He tried to struggle back, but Loki was much stronger and taller and moved with him.

"Indeed, your presence is more annoying than you can fathom, but I am making an effort to get over it and make it work. You should do the same, now relax." The last came out tasting a bit like a command

Stark took a deep breath and settled against the window. His body didn't relax in the slightest, but his face did and he no longer struggled to remove Loki's hand from his face. Neither of them moved physically, but Loki allowed his magic to skirt along the edges of Stark's skin. Now that he was looking for it, he could feel little sparks of magic along his skin. Each one of them met his own magic cautiously before rejecting it, but that was alright, expected even. If Stark's magic accepted him too easily he would have been worried.

He hadn't realized he had closed his eyes until he felt the sun hit his eye lids. He let his eyes fall open and removed his hand from Stark's face. The other's eyes opened slowly and Loki smiled easily at him.

"There now, that wasn't so bad."

* * *

**A/N: WOOHOO! I have been the very definition of productive during the Christmas break. One chapter of TTWC and this chapter and I still have time to work on another one! ROAR! Hope yall are enjoying this. I should be getting into a bit more plot with this. **


	4. Chapter 4

Tony was annoyed. For the past three days he had been dragged, literally dragged, from his bed at ass o'clock in the morning by Thor's psychotic, deranged, pissy little brother. Then said psychotic, deranged, pissy brother continued his dragging theme and shoved him on some prissy little girl window seat and told to meditate or some shit like that. The only up to the whole situation was that Loki's room was full of some the most interesting lighty up things, and yes that is a technical term, that Tony had ever seen and he had it on Loki's word that the damned things were cursed and wasn't that idea teeming with possibilities? Not that he had ever been allowed to get more than a glance at them. Loki always shoved him past all interesting things to try and teach him magic. That's right, Loki, hater of the human race, was trying to teach Tony Stark, protector and member of said race, freaking magic. And people called the man crazy before.

The nights were spent relatively well. After a full day of sifting through parchment with Loki, they even had lunch in his damn study, he was all too excited to expend a little pent up frustration. The whole of the palace would eat dinner together and when they said it was time to eat dinner, they really meant it was time to party. Every night he had spent there was great. Every night they drank, they danced, they told stories, they sang. It was crazy good clean fun. Sure it was missing Tony's favorite drinks and the music totally sucked, but the mead was good quality and the company was entertaining as hell to watch.

Day three had been particularly bad as Loki had dragged him straight from Thor's room to Loki's own by his foot in his underpants all because Tony had told him where he could shove his damned magic lessons. There may have been a Harry Potter reference in there somewhere; Tony hadn't really been awake.

Either way it had been humiliating to be dragged on his back eliciting giggles and stifled laughs from every passerby. Tony planned revenge even as he smiled and waved to the people who passed.

He put the plan into effect the instant Loki stepped out to find some reference material that he needed. Something about a library and how he didn't trust anyone to actually know where it was and Stark better damned well keep his hands to himself while he was away and blah blah unimportant jerberish blah. When the door closed he went to work.

He had selfishly spent the whole morning looking up all the different chemicals that Loki had sitting on his tables and their properties. It would take a clear understanding of how all these things worked to get his desired affect. He grinned to himself as he mixed the tubes and rearranged beakers. He added chemicals here subtracted there, moved this burner to that side. He had just finished and thrown himself into his chair when the large wooden doors opened again and Loki came striding into the study his nose already in his book. He sat back down without even acknowledging Tony's presence.

Tony grinned.

* * *

What was really sad about the whole situation was that Tony was adjusting. On the night before day four of the new 'Loki routine' Tony had torn through the pleasant haze that had taken residence in his mind and tossed the excess of Thor's bedding on the floor where he landed the past three mornings. It didn't stop him from hollering as he was yanked back and fell, though. Loki had laughed hard and Thor threw a pillow and told them to get on with it. Tony's mouth fell open.

"Get on with it? Are you serious? Your comrade, your brother in arms is getting kidnapped and all you have to say is get on with it?"

"Get on with it please." Thor amended sleepily. He yawned, rolled over and unceremoniously burrowed back into the pillows ignoring them.

Loki smirked and Tony flipped him the bird. Loki didn't miss a beat, however. He yanked Tony off the ground, manhandled him into semidecent cloths and shoved him out the bedroom door. He was ushered down the hall and back to Loki's room and his window seat.

"And you said you were worried about unwanted affections. What the hell should I call this then, cause I think I'm starting to get a weird stalker vibe." He tried to duck Loki's hand

"I call this training and if you spent less time talking and more time focusing we might actually be seeing a bit more progress." Loki said that, but after every one of these little get togethers he would rub his chin with one hand and stare at Tony as if he could see right through him before nodding all satisfied like. The ass.

Tony sighed and closed his eyes waiting for the sun to rise. His brows furrowed as he felt… something. It felt exciting, like when he had a breakthrough at work and couldn't stop until he followed it through to the end. But he wasn't working; he was sitting on a window seat at sunrise. Tony's eyes flew open and he realized Loki's hand was on his shoulder and the god's eyes were closed. Loki was working hard to make this work and Tony felt a twinge of guilt that he hadn't been taking any of it seriously. He opened his mouth the same time Loki opened his eyes. They were bright green, glowing with power. Tony's voice caught and Loki glared.

"Really Stark? All I ask of you is to sit still so I can work and you cannot even do that for me?" He hissed

Tony immediately took offense. "I was sitting still, you jackass, but I felt something weird and excuse me for wanting to know what's fluttering through me!"

Loki was suddenly in his face. Tony recoiled against the window. "What was fluttering through you? Tell me the details. How would you describe it. Have you ever felt it before? If so, when?"

Tony blinked back at him and slowly unfolded his knees from where he had pulled to his chest at Loki sudden move. That was a touch girly, not that he was going to admit that to anyone ever. He took a more dignified position and cleared his throat.

"It felt kinda like the feeling I get when I have just realized some new innovative thing I can do. It's like an excitement that courses from my brain all the way out to my fingers and I just can't sit still." He tried to explain. Even now he felt the need to do something with his hands.

Loki pulled back looking triumphant. "I have successfully unlocked your core. Now all that remains is to teach you how to do it yourself. Normally that is the simplest part, but I will make no assumptions with you. You cannot even ride a horse for heaven's sake." He was smiling

"You say mean things, but we both know you're happy." Tony grinned

Loki shot an annoyed look at him. "Do shut up, Stark. You are ruining my moment."

"Hey, I'm pretty sure I am part of that moment."

"Do you consider the dog a part of your moment when you successfully teach it not to pee on your floors, or do you pat yourself on the back and commend your own patience?" Loki asked pleasantly

"Did you just akin my core magic thing to a dog being potty trained? You know what, I don't want to know. Asshole."

Loki laughed and Tony wanted terribly to give his own asshole-ish reply, but he bit his tongue. He knew for a fact that Loki wouldn't be laughing for long.

* * *

Loki was grinning when he entered the study. He had managed to unlock Stark's magic core in just four days. That would be a record if anyone had ever tried to teach a mortal the art of magic, which no Asgardian had before himself. Though he constantly berated the mortal on his lack of focus and overall interest in the affair, they were moving pretty quickly on that front. Imagine what they could accomplish if the damned mortal actually applied himself. Gasp! Perish the thought. But the mortal would have to apply himself for the next bit of magic training or they would have no hope of success.

These were the thoughts in his mind when he opened the study door and walked to his stack of papers.

He blinked at them.

And again, just to be sure.

No, the pages were definitely pink, a blazing, obnoxious, undeniable pink.

He heard Stark laugh from across the room and his eyes swung to the mortal, pinning him with a look.

"What did you do?" he growled storming towards the mortal, papers in hand.

Said mortal smirked at him not the least bit frightened. "I turned them pink, obviously. I think it fits you."

Loki could feel his face turning red from shear anger. "And how, pray tell, did you manage that? You cannot do magic."

"Didn't need to, Cupid. I just played with your alchemy set a bit." The mortal looked like a cat with a court of cream

"Don't be ridiculous. You have no knowledge of the chemicals used here, nor their properties or alchemic applications." He seethed, but he was beginning to suspect that perhaps, just maybe, Stark did in fact know.

"I have been doing nothing for the past three days, but read book after book after book on the sciences and magics of your world. Do you really think a genius like me didn't pick up on the uses of this places' dangerous chemicals? Come on, that's like my favorite subject."

Loki realized his mouth was hanging slightly open and quickly shut it. He was distinctly reminded of the time the Black Widow had pulled the wool over his eyes in their flying fortress. He ground his teeth and waited for Stark to continue, which he was all too happy to do.

"Well, you see, I got the idea on the third day I had been yanked out of bed by your princely jackassness. You know as you were dragging me down the hall half naked?"

Loki scoffed, "I did not damage you."

"And the paper is still legible. Now, where was I? Oh yes. I decided to read up on the chemicals you were keeping on your tables and see if there was anything I could use, getting to know my workplace and what not. Then you went after a book and I played musical beakers with your little chemistry set-"

"Alchemy."

"Whatever. The point is I figured out that by mixing a few chemicals and heating them at certain temperatures would cause one to release a poisonous gas that, while toxic if breathed or ingested, would leave a bright pink stain on papers it had come into contact with. That's how you check for it in your food by the way, heat it up and hold a piece of parchment over it. People don't use it much anymore cause it's so easy to check for."

Loki rolled his eyes, thoroughly unimpressed. "I am a prince and have thus been educated in such things, Stark."

"Anyways! If you use a lot of it you could, conceivably, turn a whole library or study pink. Pop open a window, light a fuse on your way out, lights the burner causing the chemicals to move and distill, making a poisonous gas that sinks into the pages. The excess goes out the window which also airs out the room, leaving no trace or danger, just poisonous pink pages."

Loki didn't know if he should applaud the excellent display of understanding and use of Asgardian alchemy or beat the fear of Hel into the man.

"Both I think."

"What?" Stark asked

"Have decided to both commend you on your excellent use of alchemy-"

"Thanks babe, I'll be here all week."

"And beat the fear of Helheim itself into you."

They stared at each other for a moment as he allowed the seriousness of his words to sink in. Stark's smile finally began to fade.

"Wait-"

"Due to my previous acknowledgment of an act well done and your lesser physical ability, I will allow you a handicap of ten seconds and limit myself to only three solid hits."

"You are fucking kidding right now."

"One… Two…"

"Shit."

The mortal was fast and intelligent and unfortunately managed to make it to Frigga before Loki could exact his revenge, but it was a near thing. The damned mortal ducked two of his hits by sliding around corners and nearly toppled the Queen in his haste. He had quickly composed himself, pulling his tragically matched clothing straight and perhaps Loki should have taken more care in how the mortal dressed when he woke him in the morning. He complemented the Queen on her beauty and attire asking if the clothing was handmade and if she would mind terribly if he stole the maker for a few weeks. His mother was charmed as she had been before and Loki wanted to chase the damned immoral mortal off his mother's sent. But that would have been unseemly and his mother would have been terribly embarrassed, so he began scheming of another way to get back at the man as they accepted the offer of lunch with the Queen.

* * *

Tony literally shrieked. Screamed at the top of his lungs in total horror the instant he tried to begin reading. He threw his headset across the room.

"What the hell?!" He cried and suddenly he froze. He turned slowly to where Loki sat by the window. Loki glanced up at him from his own book and very slowly, calmly, sadistically, he smiled. "You!"

"Whatever could be the matter?" He asked sweetly

"What did you do to my music, you sick, little prick?" Tony growled

"Oh is that what you called that god awful noise?"

"It really doesn't matter what it is. What matters is that you messed with my stuff and you are gonna have to fix it." He threw the Stark Tech MP3 Player right at Loki's head who caught it easily. The bastard.

Loki glanced at the device. "I see nothing broken, Stark, and besides I am sure I have no idea what you are so upset about." He tossed it back

"You turned my music into that exceptionally lame harp music that you people play and you don't know what I' upset about? This is like the only thing even worth listening to in this place and you ruined it." He tossed it back. "Fix it."

"Ruined? I think it has been much improved from that blaring, angry, pathetic attempt at rhythmic noise." Tossed back. "I think it is better as it is."

"Well isn't that cute? But I don't, so fix it." Tossed

"No I don't think I will." Toss

"Yeah, I think you will." Toss

"No." Toss

"Yes, damn it! It's mine and you obviously used some kind of lame ass magic trick to change it and now you are going to fix it!" Throw

"You know, Stark, at least I had the decency to commend you on your work when you turned _all the books I own_ pink. But, since I am the better man, I will make a compromise. If and when you change my books back to a more natural color, I will lift the spell from your musical device." Throw

"The hell? It was a chemical reaction Loki, I can't just undo it. Why don't you try your magic crap, seems to be very capable." Toss

"It is, but it cannot undo this for it was not done by simple chemical reactions, Stark. Did I not tell you that you have magic about you? Did you yourself not say that when I unlocked your core it felt similar to the feeling you get when you are creating? You use your magic when you use your science or in this case alchemy. So no, I cannot undo this because it is chemicals interlaced with your magic and that is not so simple." Toss.

"…Oh. Well I sure as hell don't know how-"

"Yes I am aware, Stark."

"And you're still not going to fix it?"

"You alter my things, I alter yours. It seems fair does it not? Besides I offered a solution to our disagreement." Loki smiled devilishly and went back to his book.

"I just said I don't know how!"

"True enough, but I did offer."

"Let the record show that Loki Liesmith did offer. Damn it, Loki!" Tony ran his heads through his hair in frustration and turned a circle. His music! He turned back to Loki. "You seriously aren't going to-"

"No." He looked so damned happy

"You realize I can just download more music, right?" Tony laughed

"It is an enchantment, you fool. Any music added to that device will end up the same as the others, but by all means feel free to try. It should provide for some good entertainment at the very least."

Tony grit his teeth eyes narrowed, "You do realize this isn't over."

"Oh, I should hope not."

* * *

"So are you excessively fond of sharing Thor's bed or do you not have a room of your own?" Loki suddenly asked

They were currently sitting down in the golden hall of Asgard eating breakfast and as such it was perfectly understandable that Tony's mouth was full when Loki said that. It was also perfectly understandable that he spat his mouthful across the table at Sif. He nearly fell out of his chair laughing and Sif nearly fell out of her chair in disgust. The Warriors Three attempted to smother their laughter in their napkins and Loki just sat in his chair grinning mischievously.

"It is good to see you two getting along so well!" Thor laughed

"What?"

"Oh, Thor you complete idiot." Loki planted his head in his hand.

"What? I am only happy that you and Tony have become friends, brother." Thor's smile was radiant. "I had thought you two might do well together, did I not say when you first got here that you two would do well together?"

"Actually I think you insulted me by comparing me to your crazy brother is what I thought happened. Hey Xena can you pass me the milk there please? Yeah thanks." Tony poured himself some milk as Loki glared daggers and Thor threw his hands up and laughed.

"You see? You twist my words much like Loki."

"Do shut up Thor. Are you going to answer the question Stark?" Loki asked pointedly

"Well, if I had to rate Thor's bed against every bed I had ever shared with anyone, ever, I would say it definitely ranks in the top 3." Tony smiled

"It is a good bed." Thor agreed easily. "And it bothers me not. Loki and I often shared a bed when we were young."

Loki's face was the definition of sour. "Had you your own room and it was facing the rising sun there would be no need to have you in my quarters."

"What? Don't want me in your room?" Tony grinned. Seemed like someone was considering the consequences of fucking with Tony's music.

"Amazingly enough, no." Loki replied smoothly snagging the milk

"He has a room, brother, but it does not face the east." Thor interjected taking a huge bite of food.

"You have been going to Loki's room?" Sif asked and Tony internally rolled his eyes. This was going to suck.

"Yep, something about sunrise being better for magic learning or some such thing. Do you guys have orange juice or some-"

"Afraid not, Tony." Thor

"Thing like that. No?"

"That is surprising. I did not think you trusted him so." Sif started again

Loki stood suddenly and smiled winningly at the group. "Forgive me; I only just remembered I have questions I must speak of to Odin."

Loki left the room quickly and Thor's eyes followed him sadly. Tony watched and thought. Though he only saw the trickster a complete ass who tried to enslave his people, Thor saw his little brother. This man was once a kid that Thor played with and learned with and shared a bed with. He could just see the two of them as little kids giggling under the covers playing make believe or whatever it was brothers do. He didn't have siblings, but he had seen movies and that was close enough.

"You know what I think is surprising. I think it's surprising that you don't seem to trust Thor's judgment even though you have known him longer than me. That I find surprising." They all stared at him, but he could see a warmth in Thor's eyes that made it totally worth it. "And besides, people can change. I changed. Loki, in his own way, has changed. Thor has changed. People change."

"Aye, Man of Iron. Everyone changes." She replied softly.

Tony stood, satisfied with that and made to head back to the study when he heard Sif continue.

"Might we hear your story someday, Anthony Stark?" She asked

He looked at her. She was serious and stubborn and he could tell that she was pretty set in her ways, but he also knew this woman had the hots for Thor. Thor believed in Loki and if she wanted to get Thor's approval she would need to learn to deal with Loki as well. Maybe his story would put things in perspective for her. Or maybe not. Either way he was mad at her and really didn't want to deal with it right now. This is what he had Pepper for.

"You know maybe. One day. When I'm not feeling about you like I am feeling about you right now. Yeah then it might work. Hey Thor, I'm heading back to the study. Talk to you later."

"Wait, I will accompany you." He called and jumped to his feet to follow him leaving his friends to puzzle out exactly what he had meant by his statement.

Tony shrugged and they walked side by side out of the dining hall.

"I had lunch with your mom a few days back, did I tell you that? I think I forgot to tell you that. Anyway, Loki and I have this crazy prank thing going on and I am planning some pretty ridiculous things to get back at him for what he did to my music. Did I tell you what he did to my music?"

"No I do not believe you did, though I think I may have heard what you did to deserve it." Thor chuckled

"Ok. I turned the pages of his books pink, but they are still in good condition and useable. I have to use them too, I don't know what he's complaining about. Anyway, his idea of fair retaliation was to make my MP3 player, that's a music player, convert all the music on it into harp music." He made a gagging sound and Thor laughed. "It was horrible! And of course he won't fix it, so I'm gonna have to get him back somehow."

"Oh dear, this should be interesting."

"You can bet your ass on that."

"Tony."

Thor stopped walking and Tony felt a flutter in his chest. They were going to talk feelings, Tony just knew it. He didn't do feelings and why was Thor always trying to single him out for talks on feelings anyway. Did he look like a feelings kind of guy?

He took a deep breath and turned around slowly.

Thor was looking at him with big soulful eyes. "Thank you for befriending my brother."Oh here it comes. "I know he can be difficult and I know that you two did not meet under the best of terms, but you have still done your best to be civil with him. Indeed you are even standing up for him and enjoying his company in earnest. It is more than I could have expected or would have dreamed to ask and I thank you, my friend."

Luckily Tony had braced himself for the spine crushing hug that was sure to come so when it did he only squeaked a little as the air rushed out of him. He allowed himself to hang in the air for a good while before he politely reminded Thor that he needed to breathe. Thor chuckled and set him back on the ground and Tony inwardly cringed to see his eyes bright and misty. He patted the big man on the shoulder.

"Hey what are friends for?"

* * *

**A/N: Another update? I am on a roll. Who knew how productive holidays can be? Monday I am back full time so they may be slower for a while, just a heads up. Let me know how you like it so far!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: In which Thor has feels and the Tricks continue**

* * *

Loki was enjoying their little game.

The mortal seemed to take his tricks quite well, or at least better than Loki's fellow Asgardians. He also gave it back as good as he got not only in word play, but apparently tricks as well. He was technically still waiting for proper retaliation for his tampering with the mortal music device.

And what a clever little device it was. He spent most of the night before his little prank toying with the thing, discovering how it worked and how he might go about improving it. He still wasn't sure exactly how the mortal piece of technology worked, but understood enough. He ended up casting a spell on the translation mechanisms. Apparently the music was translated from normal speech to some kind of technological language to normal for listening pleasure. A small simple easily reversed spell later and Stark had a unique collection of harp string music.

He chuckled. He could still remember the horrified look the man had on his face when he realized his precious device which he listened to religiously while working had been altered. It was even better when Stark realized Loki was responsible. Priceless.

Since then here had been several petty jokes between them. For instance, Stark rearranged every moveable object in the study. This forced Loki, for fear of another alchemy issue, to check everything for traps. He found nothing, but it was a huge waste of time and he had to listen to Stark snicker the whole while. It would have been rude to ignore the desperate cry for attention. The butterfingers potion he slipped Stark at mid meal was a gift really. The mortal had plenty of attention for the rest of the meal, indeed, the rest of the day. Thor helped him finish his food and worried for him the rest of day not allowing him a moment's peace until the potion wore off. It was well after dinner before all the effects wore off. A day well spent in Loki's opinion.

He was grabbing opening Thor's door for the tenth day of their routine magic lessons and rude awakenings when a shock ran up his arm from the door handle. It zapped and crackled from the top of his head to the very tips of his toes. Loki recoiled from the knob, but it didn't stop the tingling and zapping.

"What in the Nine?" he growled shaking his hands in an attempt dispel the strange feeling

"What's the matter there Comet? Feel like your hands fell asleep or something?"Loki's head shot up to see Stark smirking from the doorway already dressed and looking very amused.

"What did you do?" Loki tried to seem nonchalant about the whole thing, forcing a smile even as his face too began to tingle and he was sorely tempted to let it twitch.

"Just listening to teacher. I mean, you did tell me to apply myself more." Loki wondered if he looked that smug when he tricked. If so he was beginning to understand the initial anger directed at him after his own tricks.

Unfortunately, Loki could remember several instances where he had used rather strong wording to tell Stark to apply himself. And of course he did. The mortal did an exemplary impression of a limp fish throughout their last few lessons. He was amazed Stark could even feel his magic much less use it.

"This is magic?" He asked skeptically

"Yep. That and alchemy." Stark looked proud of himself nearly preening

"I did not know you were able to use it at will." Loki snapped. "I feel as 'teacher' I should be made aware."

"Consider yourself made aware." Stark smiled and closed the door behind him. "I'm gonna walk myself if that's alright with you."

Loki snorted, ignoring him "And when will this wear off, pray tell?"

"You'll be first to know, Blitzen."

Stark grinned mischievously and, even though his every move felt like he was rolling on pins and needles, he couldn't help but grin back.

The magic lesson was a touch more difficult than normal. Literally the touch was the problem. Since Stark used his magic to create the spell, every time Stark called his magic out when Loki was touching him the zapping instantly ignited into an extremely irritating stinging sensation. After the second attempt he growled violent and stepped back cursing while Stark doubled over laughing.

"Again." Stark laughed

"I think not." Loki was beginning to call this little spell Pins and Needles and was wondering if he might be able to replicate it and use it on another, say Thor or Sif. He would have to learn how to remove it before he could attempt to recreate it. "We'll end our little lesson here for today."

"Pansy."

They went back to the study and Loki spent the rest of the morning attempting to undo Stark's little trick, secretly of course. Couldn't have the little mortal realizing how annoying his spell was. His likening it to the feeling of a limb falling asleep was quite apt and very distracting. When mid meal rolled around he was still tingling all over and Stark was still in high spirits about it. Luckily he managed to hind the twitching in his face for the most part, but that did not keep Stark from grinning at him.

"How you doing over there?"

"Just lovely, thank you." Loki replied feigning a bright smile

"I thought you might be feeling a bit tender as of late." Stark smirked as Thor began to take interest in their conversation. "I hope my trick didn't trip you up too much."

"What has happened, brother?" Thor asked worry already creasing his brow

"Nothing worth mentioning."

"You know, except that a mortal magiced his ass and now he's feeling tingly all over. That's all."

Loki and Thor both looked at Stark, the former with daggers and the later with surprise.

"You are able to perform magic, Tony?" Thor asked amazed

"Yep!" He chirped happily

"It has only been ten days!"

"Genius."

Thor spun back to his brother and huge grinner splitting his face. "It is most impressive, brother, that you were able to teach him so much so fast! You are amazing!"

Loki turned his head to hide the flush of pride the words brought as Stark blurted, "Hey! I did the learning."

"Indeed, my apologies. You are both amazing!" Thor's smile was radiant and his hand fell heavy on Loki's shoulder. "I cannot wait to see what else you accomplish."

"Yes, well." He turned his head again

"Now he just has to undo the spell I put on him." Stark had talent. He was excellent at both breaking up tension and simultaneously giving Loki excuse to berate him.

"It proves to be a difficult task to be sure. Especially since the fool who brought it about has little to no understanding of magic and ergo has no idea of how to undo his own work." Loki used as scathing a tone as he could. Stark's face was well schooled and showed little effect, but Loki thought he saw the mortal's mouth twitch. Perhaps he had pushed the poor thing too far?

"You're the teacher. I can only work with what I have."

"Indeed, that is why one would wonder why you tried to work with what you do not in fact have." He replied smoothly

"Sure seems like I have it. Or are you just pretending to twitch and wince every time you move?" Stark grinned and Loki smirked

"He has you there brother." Thor laughed. "You are a better teacher than even you thought."

"Yeah he is. And I think this milestone in my magical apprenticeship deserves a party in its honor! Drinks all around!"

Stark raised his glass as did the rest of the table and soon enough the group was a gathering and then the gathering was a party and then the party was a drunken dance. The drunken dance began to grow and grow and soon it was a proper after feast ball fit for the dining hall of Asgard. Loki was still tingling all over, which made the constant bumping and back slapping extremely annoying. He stayed for quite awhile nonetheless for the party was in his honor more or less and he was going to enjoy it at least a little bit.

It was either late in the night or early in the morning depending on how one looked at it when Loki finally left. There may have been streaks of dawn on the horizon. He was walking down the hall to his room in such a manner that it might have been mistaken as staggering, but Loki Odinson never staggered no matter how much he drank. He was nearly there when there was a crash down the hall and a boisterous laugh. He turned to see Thor grinning like a fool and standing in the middle of a rather large ornate broken vase and was this not nostalgic?

"What have you done?" He found himself laughing

Thor's smile grew wider, no doubt remembering the similar times he broken that very vase when they were children. He staggered toward Loki and he did stagger because while Loki Odinson never staggered Thor Odinson did. He sloppily wrapped an arm around Loki when he reached him and chuckled into his shoulder.

"I made a mess of Mother's vase. Again." Thor laughed loudly and Loki just snickered. "Perhaps you should bail me out and fix it again."

Loki rolled his eyes and nearly fell against Thor. Hum, interesting. He raised and hand toward the vases and that was interesting because he could have sworn that Thor had only broken one. He squinted his eyes and, "ah, there we are". While the vase was moving there was only one of them. He pulled his magic around him and cast his well used repair spell. He and Thor watched as the vase literally pulled its self back together and sealed with little star bursts of green magic. Loki nodded in satisfaction and nearly toppled head over heal and would have if not for Thor's hands on his shoulders. They both laughed and swayed together into Loki's room collapsing hard and exhausted onto the couch deep green in Loki's front room.

Thor let out a happy sigh."I will never get tired of seeing you do it."

"What? Nearly fall on my face from too much drink? How touching." Loki might have giggled, but Loki Odinson never giggled, so surely not.

"No, but that is also funny." They looked at one another and burst out laughing again. "Seriously brother, I meant your magic."

"Do not be silly." Loki laughed and stood walking back towards his bed. He was so tired. "It was a good night let us not ruin it with talk!" Did he yell that last part? Well.

"Really though! You are so very talented and I am your brother and I should tell you more often how much I care for you!" Thor blathered, following him to his bed chambers.

Loki sighed heavily and flopped down on the bed pulling his armor off, or at least, attempting to. "While a lovely gesture, this is unnecessary."

Thor was adamant. "No it is! I went to Midgard and I saw firsthand how people who were so very different could work together. How that not only embraced their differences, but cherished them. Their differences were idolized and made to be of great importance to the point that without them, their very culture would cease to function. None so well displayed this as Tony Stark and the Avengers. He was so different, so eccentric compared to the others, but he was respected in his own right for it as were the others. No one was belittled for it if fact they were celebrated! The captain told me it was important to have people who were good at different things so the team could be protected in many different ways. And I thought, this is where Asgard went wrong. This is where we failed. We pushed you down for being different when we should have been lifting you up. We should have praised you for finding new and inventive ways of helping our group as no other could like Midgard did for Tony Stark."

Thor crawled into bed with Loki as the dark haired god tried to keep up with the speech in his state. Was it just Loki or was Thor admitting that he and most of Asgard were wrong? Thor was suddenly hugging him and pressing his face into Loki's neck and shoulder.

"Do you not see how close we were? I thought you were dead, lost forever and all I could think about was how I had not told you how much you meant to me. How I could not remember the last time I had truly shown my affection for you, told you how important you were, how smart. I could not call it to mind and now you were gone and I would never have the opportunity to do so. I thought how much pain had I put you in to cause you to believe that death was better than staying here, with me." Tears were coming now. "I had part in that painful, horrible decision. And it was my childishness and selfishness that caused me to be gone from you when you needed me most either to lean on or take the pressure of ruling from your shoulders. My fault, my fault that my brother died, that he killed himself. The pain was, is still, unbearable and I know I must live with it for the rest of my life.

"I am so sorry, brother. I love you. I love you so terribly much. I love your magic and your smile and your way of hiding your happiness so that only those who are truly close to you know how you feel. I love your embraces and your laugh. I love your tricks and your word plays and that you are cleaver enough to make them. I love you, even when I am angry at you or frustrated with you, I love you. I love you so so much, brother, and I am so sorry that I have not said it enough before. And I am sorry I am so annoying to you now, but I cannot bring myself to forget the pain of losing you and I… I just have to show you in every way I can how I love you and that you are appreciated."

Loki blinked at his brother. It had been a long time since he had heard brother spare a word of true esteem for his talents and Loki himself. Before Midgard. Before Jotenheim. Before they were fully adults really. They had been in adolescence the last time Thor had done anything more than lightly acknowledge Loki's ability. When they were young magic was a thing of wonder that Thor often asked Loki to show him, enchanted with Loki and magic. It was only when they began to go into battle with other warriors who disliked magic and trickery that Thor learned contempt for Loki and his magic. He would tell Loki he had not truly won their bouts when he used magic, that he was a cheat and a coward. It had been the point of confrontation for quite a few of their fights and brought on more of their father's lectures than any other subject.

Loki opened his mouth to… reply he supposed, but a sob came out. Thor's arms tightened around him and he was in shock. Surely such a pathetic display of sentiment did not move him, but then before the Chitauri he had not felt that way. He had loved Thor and Father and Mother and Asgard.

"You made me cry." He would have whined, but he never whined. "And you say you love me."

Thor laughed and Loki let out a breath as the tension was defused. They managed to struggle out of their cloths and Loki put the lights out with a wave as he turned into his pillow.

"Loki."

"What?" he asked tired

"Do you remember when we were children and we would do this?" Thor's voice was soft and comforting in the dark.

"To the point, brother."

"The stars. You would always make the ceiling into stars… could you do that?"

Loki choked slightly and he felt a tear slide down his face as he cast a spell and they were bathed in starlight. He could just make out Thor's smile in the dark and Loki sighed shakily. Thor pressed his large shoulder against Loki's and that added to the nostalgia of the whole situation. Soon he was drifting somewhere between sleep and wake when he heard Thor shift closer and whisper "I love you, Loki."

He slept surprisingly well.

* * *

Tony crawled out of bed like he had some kind of Asgardian wasting disease. He couldn't quite remember what all he did last night other than he knew he had nearly killed himself dancing on a table with Thor and the blonde guy while mister moody shook his head and Loki sang. Yeah weird shit went down or at least he thought it did. It was a bit fuzzy.

He by some miracle of Valhala managed to drag himself to the bathroom and into the comically large tub. When the flying hell did he start saying weird Asgardian fraises? He was relaxing in the tub and pondering what kinds of anti-hangover ingredients would be available when he realized that Loki hadn't come to drag his ass out of bed this morning.

Huh. That was weird, but then Loki had seemed pretty smashed last night. Or was that this morning?

The bigger question was where Point Break had gotten to. He could have wandered to some girl's rooms or house or whatever. Place worked. To some girl's place and gotten his freak on. But that was unlikely, due the severe distraughtness over how Jane would react to his infidelity. Was distraughtness even a word? Tony shrugged and clumsily grabbed at the fifty different soaps and oil Thor kept by the tub. Either way he was getting clean damn it.

It was an indeterminate amount of time later that Tony Stark finally dragged himself from the prince's bedroom and into the hall. After glancing a bout he decided to head to the lab or the 'study' as it were, but it held the same purpose. He turned and began walking.

He got lost.

He didn't know how in the hell he had gotten lost, but he had. Alright, maybe he did know. It was a huge place and every hallway looked alike all gold and tall and godly. But he and Loki had gone to and from that stinking room more times than he cared to count and he should by all rights be able to find his way back. Then it hit him.

He and Loki had always gone everywhere together since he had gotten here. He had thought nothing of having the guy around before as he needed someone to help him find his way at first and it hadn't be strange after that because they were working together and were, therefore, going to the same places.

But what if Loki had used some magic to hide his little study from others? What if Tony only thought he knew how to find it because Loki had been with him when he had gone there before?

He slapped a hand over his face and let out a frustrated sigh. Loki was such a pain in the ass.

"Having trouble finding your way, Anthony Stark?" Tony jumped and turned at the deep voice behind him. Odin himself stood in the center of the hall proud and armored and perhaps a bit amused.

Tony smiled winningly. He had gotten on the mom's good side why not the dad's? "Yeah, I'm thinking Loki played a trick on me. Again. Can't seem to find his study and I have been there enough times to know where it is."

The King chuckled, a twinkle in his eye. "I would not be surprised. He has always had an affinity for mischief and trickery and so do you it would seem." He motioned with a hand for Tony to join him as he continued to walk. "I have heard a few stories already of a battle of sorts between you two."

Tony grinned. "Battle is a big word. I don't know enough about magic to really compete with him, but I just can't pass up the opportunity to throw him off. I'm too smart for my own good, or so they tell me."

Odin's face had sobered and he nodded slowly as they walked. "I have told Loki the same on more than one occasion."

"You know what they say, birds of a feather and all that mess." Tony replied casually. He turned his head towards the other man only to find him staring back. Tony blinked and felt the first twinge of nerves come tingling down his arms. "What?"

The king's eyes were dark and calculating. "You would consider yourself and Loki alike? Enough so to be considered birds of a feather?"

Tony swallowed. Make one comment and it turns the whole conversation into some kind of investigation into his character. Freakin' awesome.

"Yeah I guess I would. It doesn't mean I don't think he's a bit out of control, but yeah I could see some similarities… I wasn't always a very good person either you know. I had a name before Ironman."

"Which was?"

Tony's smile was little more than a show of teeth when he turned to the King.

"The Merchant of Death."

Odin's eyes were dark as they gazed back at him. They stood still in the hallway and Tony wondered if they were having some kind of showdown that he hadn't been made aware of. But then the king sighed and nodded tiredly obviously finding something he'd been searching for in Tony's eyes. With one large hand he motioned toward the door beside them.

"Loki's room. I believe you will find both my sons inside." He turned the knob and opened the door for him.

Tony glanced inside. "Yes this is Loki's room, but I was kinda wanting to get to the study."

Odin again looked amused and was it just Tony or did he find everyone amusing? "I am aware, Anthony, but I doubt my son would take kindly to my interference with his tricks and indeed I feel not the need to do so when they do not cause harm. You are just as well to bother him yourself over the matter." He motioned with his other hand for Tony to get on with it.

Tony Stark let out a theatric sigh and made a show of stepping into Loki's chambers by dragging his feet and taking shuffling steps. Odin chuckled again and gave Tony a smile that reminded him of Thor before shutting the door. Tony stared at for a moment. Odin was odd. Really really odd. He wasn't sure what the old man knew or didn't know and it threw off his whole game. He needed to talk to Thor about that.

He turned and stared at Loki's bookshelf full of cursed things and felt temptation slide over his mind and coat it thickly like syrup. He slowly made his way toward it, a battle playing out in his mind.

_Cursed objects. I gotta know what they do._

_He said not to touch them._

_Yeah, but come on! Doing what I'm told so isn't my thing._

_He is gonna be pissed if I do and I have to work with the guy._

_He isn't gonna know. _

_He has freaky mojo that'll let him know I touched it. He's Loki._

_So he's pissed, what's the worst that could happen?_

_Hell if I know._

_I could know, though. All I would have to do would be to reach right out and-_

He touched it. He freaking told himself if was a bad idea, but he did it anyway. He must have been related to a cat somewhere down the line cause his curiosity could be a real bitch sometimes. He just couldn't say no. No matter how bad the idea seemed he just had to do it.

It happened in slow motion, though it must have only lasted a second. He saw his hand reaching for the blue glowing one that matched the shade of his reactor. Just as his middle finger came within an inch of the damned thing purple and green light exploded around him. It hung in the air like some kind of thick fog. He could feel it against his skin and in his mouth as he breathed. He coughed violently and waved a hand through the air to help the fumes or whatever the hell it was dissipate.

He blinked a few times and glanced around trying to figure out what had changed. Nothing looked different about the room. He quickly glanced at his hands and his jaw dropped. Oh dear god. He dashed across the room to a standing mirror and stared at himself. He opened and shut his mouth soundlessly as words escaped him. He finally settled.

"Holy fucking mother of god. Fuck my goddamned life! LOKI! You bastard son of a bitch!"

* * *

Loki stood combing his hair back when he heard the explosion and grinned at himself in the mirror. Thor's head shot up at the sound. Upon seeing Loki's smug grin, he too smiled and shook his head knowing full well what it was. Loki had just pulled his shirt on and laced it when Stark's cry came loud and very annoyed.

"Holy fucking mother of god. Fuck my goddamned life! LOKI! You bastard son of a bitch!"

Then the mortal was in his bathroom door way glowering, red faced, and pink. Very very pink. Every hair on Stark's body was now a vivid shade of pink from his head to his feet and everywhere in between. Or so he assumed as he could not see those parts.

Thor snorted into the bath water as he tried to muffle his laugh and Stark shot his friend a scathing look, but much of its power was lost when Thor broke out in thunderous laughter.

"I'm sorry my friend, but you look so ridiculous! I cannot take you seriously with your beard and hair pink! Indeed even the hair on your arms!" He broke down again into a fit of laughter.

Loki hadn't bothered holding in his laughter and by the time Thor had finished talking he could barely breathe. When the mortal's head whipped back around to him he felt tears in his eyes. Stark was not an overly hairy man, but he had more than Loki himself did and perhaps Loki had not quite anticipated the amount of pink there would be. Even the poor fool's eyelashes were startlingly pink and as those eyes narrowed at him in so much anger he lost it. Loki, prince of Asgard and god of mischief, fell to the ground laughing.

It only got worse as Stark's face turned bright red which was offset by his lovely pink hair and turned his face an indescribable shade of fuchsia. Loki could feel tears running down his face now and he could hear water splashing out of the tub as Thor too was surely shaking hard with laughter.

"Yeah haha, you had your laugh now change me back!" He growled folding his pink haired arms over his chest. Loki just shook his head laughing. "Is this some kind of curse then?" Loki shook his head again and tried to regain his composure enough to talk. "Then what the hell man!?"

Oh, he was whining now. This was just too good. He let out another burst of laughter and breathed deeply. "It will wear off eventually, just as your little spell did. Though, I must admit, I did not anticipate how truly ludicrous you would look."

He and Thor both burst out laughing again.

"You are so dead." He seethed turning to leave, never mind that the spell never would have been cast had he not been so predictable and attempted to touch what he should not.

"But Stark!" He called after him, "You favor pink, do you not?"

The bedroom door slamming shut could just be heard over their boisterous laughter. Loki breathed deeply and tried to compose himself as Thor managed to pull himself together enough to get out of the bath. He was still grinning as they finished dressing and headed down to lunch.

Yes, this game was quite fun indeed.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah Thor had some serious feels in this chapter. I feel like I am in a unique position for understanding how Thor feels since I just recently lost my brother with no warning what so ever. He was 24 and in the navy's nuclear program. I am 22 and in nursing school. I feel that while Thor knows he cannot let Loki run amuck, there is nothing that Loki could do that would make Thor not love him and hope that he will find his way to redemption. Course, that is just my take on it.**

**I hope you all liked it and I hope I am living up to everyone's expectations with the whole Prank War thing. ^^'**


End file.
